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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

First of all, I apologize for the self promotion, but this is one of the reasons I love this business.

To set up this clip I need to tell you that here in Philly we participate in a choir competition with a local radio station. Schools from the entire metropolitan area of Philadelphia send in a recording of their choir singing a Christmas song and the winner is chosen thriugh online voting.

This morning the winning grammar school was notified and the Choir Director made my day. If you click on this link and then click on the audio take this warning. You should have a box of tissues nearby:

Accolades to you and Tim for your support of this delightful Christmas tradition! This shows true community dedication and support and Cunningham Piano, Co. is to be commended.

All of the students, from both the Grade and H.S. competitions, will have the experience of a lifetime with the Pops and Peter Nero. The excitement will continue with the new pianos for the schools. Congratulations!

Rich, That is what makes music fun. Community interaction! It is amazing how music can bring together two parishes that were recently uprooted from churches and schools that were built by past relatives generations ago. Involvement in community music organizations has a positive effect that reaches much further than we realize.

I hope this will be taken in the Christmas spirit I am posting it with, but I await a Good Friday reaction all the same.

You have posted this sort of local good-will story many times on the Piano Forum. I never detected that it was a seasonal offering for Christmas. Also, you are hardly the martyr that you infer here.

Since you mention business as in "I love this businesss", I would ask you why you among all participating retailers here direct so much attention to the local goodwill aspects of your business. Certainly you are unique in doing so. The question is -- have you found a business metric that eludes all others, or have you meandered down a path that others feel prudent to avoid? If you have to apologize in the opening post for self-promotion, it may well be the latter.

My understanding is that there is still room for good will in the musical instrument business, and that virtually all successful retailers get involved in efforts that don't have an immediate dollars and cents impact, but create relationships that may be fruitful indirectly. I know a couple of local examples myself, but not through the piano biz, rather from reports of schools who appreciated the help.

Certainly there's nothing wrong with that, and with both public and private schools feeling the budget squeeze, there's a lot that's good about it. But why carry on about it here?

Since the time that was lacking when you put up the Cunningham manufacturing video here now seems to not be an issue, I would politely ask you to invest a little of that time in pulling down that video from youtube until the Ningbo DNA of the new Cunningham is no longer hiding behind a Hamburg Steinway soundtrack. There are more than 500 page views now. You and I both know that a lot of those who enjoyed the seductive sound are clueless as to its true origin. Pulling the thing down would be a different kind of goodwill and probably wouldn't earn you facilely keypunched accolades here, but the value of truth goes further.

#1996149 - 12/07/1208:30 PMRe: This is why I love this business....
[Re: turandot]

pianoloverus
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 05/29/01
Posts: 19946
Loc: New York City

Originally Posted By: turandot

[quote=Rich Galassini] Since you mention business as in "I love this businesss", I would ask you why you among all participating retailers here direct so much attention to the local goodwill aspects of your business.

Congratulations on your support to your local schools. Whatever the motivation for your piano loan program, I am sure that it is greatly appreciated by the recipient schools, students, and the parents. Obviously there is a need, and you choose to fill the gap.

These promotions also help promote music in the schools. My town's elementary school choir was one of the choirs in this program, and I can tell you that everyone was talking about it. The importance of music programs is brought to the attention of people who normally do not think about what happens in school beyond basic education. Music education in our schools is being threaten because of budget cuts, and anything to help promote music in schools is welcomed. Thanks to Rich and Cunningham Piano for supporting this program. Congratulations to all the choirs in the programs. We have some excellent school choirs in the Delaware Valley!BTW-The Princeton school choir was not in this program. I work in Princeton, don't live there-way too expensive!

Edited by wcctuner (12/08/1201:31 PM)

_________________________
Dave FormanPiano Technician, Westminster Choir College of Rider University

Thank you Rich for posting the article and many thanks to both Rich and Steve for supporting local schools and young music students. The future of music and piano study depends on new artists. If it increases piano sales now and in the future, all the better!

I will vouch for both Rich and Tim. Through their company and personally, both are very generous with time and support of music in the Greater Delaware Valley Area. The list is very long and many on the list are only possible because the business they are in puts them in the position to be involved.

I don't think there is any attempt or expectation of fooling anyone about the fact that Cunningham Piano is a business. Rich and Tim are musicians as well as businessmen. Right next to the hearts on there sleeves they wear their salesmanship. It is easy to be cynical these days. But lets not over look their track record since they took ownership of the company.

Rich: Glad to see your continuing what has become of sorts a tradition..on B101 radio with the schools contest! good luck to all..! It be nice to hear other dealers do this around the country with their own local radio stations.. and do the same.